The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation’s (FDIC) two-year Small-Dollar Loan Pilot Program concluded in the fourth quarter of 2009. The pilot was a case study designed to illustrate how banks can profitably offer affordable small-dollar loans as an alternative to high-cost credit products such as
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About 10 million American households do not use any aspect of the banking system. A large body of research provides evidence that limited involvement in the mainstream financial sector is most common among low- and moderate-income (LMI) households. Although their income may be relatively low,
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This article summarizes the key findings and recommendations drawn from the first FDIC Survey of Bank Efforts to Serve the Unbanked and Underbanked. It is intended to inform bankers, policymakers, and researchers of the results of the survey and to outline steps to improve access to the financial
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This article provides an overview of Alternative Financial Services (AFS) and a description of the key products and services in this sector. It is intended as a primer for banks and others who are interested in understanding the competitive landscape in the financial services industry and
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This short article briefly summarizes and provides a link to the final report on the FDIC Survey of Bank Efforts to Serve the Unbanked and Underbanked. The survey was conducted in 2008 and the report was released in 2009. The FDIC retained Dove Consulting to help administer the survey of banks
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This article provides a brief overview of the field of financial education and explores some of the challenges and potential solutions. The author describes developments in the contemporary financial education movement since the 1990s and the background economic changes that stimulated its
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This article provides a plain-language description of behavioral economics and the role of common biases in financial decisionmaking, and reviews ways in which the findings of behavioral economics can help structure financial education and public policy.
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This article presents best practices and lessons learnt from on the experiences of the National Endowment for Financial Education® (NEFE), a private, nonprofit, nonpartisan and noncommercial foundation committed to increas- ing access to financial education and to empowering in- dividuals to make
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This article discusses the results of and lessons learnt from the Financial Opportunities Project (FOP), a comprehensive effort by the Center for Economic Progress identify, implement, and disseminate strategies for integrating financial services and asset-building opportunities with
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This article provides an overview of bank-based financial education. The role of banks more generally is reviewed, and examples of Marshall and Isley (M&I) Bank's Consumer Education (CE) program are discussed. Evaluation methods used by M&I are described. Key factors for success include clearly
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